


A King of Infinite Space

by havisham



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Avengers Movies Universe
Genre: (Murderous Feels), Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Horror, Gen, Nightmares, Robot Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-28
Updated: 2012-10-28
Packaged: 2017-11-17 06:07:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/548431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havisham/pseuds/havisham
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I can't sleep, and when I do -- I have nightmares."</p>
            </blockquote>





	A King of Infinite Space

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [comment meme FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE!!](http://moetushie.livejournal.com/611280.html) on LJ.

Tony dreamed of blood and twisted metal, and fires that couldn’t be put out, of crumbling foundations sinking into the sea. Basically, every nightmare scenario that he had ever had. Of course, he has also planned and compensated for everything. 

And when he woke, and everything was normal, everything was safe. But he couldn’t trust normalcy, or safety anymore. The dreams just kept coming, each worse that before.

He didn’t sleep much now. 

Hours, days, weeks, what did it matter? 

The demands on his time were constant, _constant_ , and it helped (it didn’t help) that Pepper was in the wrong end of the country to do anything about it. And Rhodey... Well, Rhodey was busy, yeah, but Tony was a lot busier, so he won that one.

He didn’t go out much either. 

JARVIS had the responsibility to make sure he didn’t go full-on Howard Hughes on anyone, as well as to keep the pantry stocked and the place clean. The place should be hermetically sealed, nothing from the outside should be brought in without JARVIS checking it out. 

JARVIS wasn’t doing a great job keeping Tony from going full-on anything. 

He fell asleep in the workshop, resting his head in his hands for a minute, just a minute, and suddenly he was thrown across the room and he felt his bones break and the blood spurt across his shocked vision. _Where was --? How could --?_

Iron Man tore Tony apart. 

He used his hands. 

Tony woke up shouting, all sorts of alarms buzzing harshly against his ear, his arm slipping from the table. JARVIS made an inquiry, and was dismissed. Tony waited until his rat-a-tat-tating heart-rate slowed, before turning back to his projects. 

His projects all fell apart, not even JARVIS could fully muffle Fury’s constant messages. 

But. 

By then, Tony had come to a realization that put everything in place. His mood was lighter and his head was clearer than they had been for the last few weeks. He shaved off the scraggly mess his goatee has devolved into. He took a shower, humming under his breath, using Pepper's bodywash. He walked around his floor, barefoot, making a few final notes to JARVIS. 

He came to the room where he kept the newest version of the armor. He went in and everything locked down. 

\+ 

“Tony! Tony, please, come out,” said Pepper for the last time. Rhodey, who stood behind her, was quiet, listening for any sound on the other side of the door. 

Finally, Pepper took a step back. She nodded to Fury, who in turn, gave the go-ahead to the SHIELD team to take out the door. When the dust cleared and the all-clear was given, they moved cautiously into the room. 

JARVIS reported, in subdued tones, that Tony’s vital signs were still strong, and the location sensors had him in this floor, in this room. But the room itself was empty, except for the newest version of Iron Man’s armor, which lay disassembled on the floor.


End file.
